


The Greatest Gift

by TheNatureKing



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Happy Ending, M/M, Peasant Junmyeon, Prince Jongdae, idc what anyone says, period, suchen - Freeform, this is a cute story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 10:31:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16972908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNatureKing/pseuds/TheNatureKing
Summary: For the nobles and foreign suitors attending the coronation of the new Great King—the wealthiest ruler of all, capable of pulling any country out of poverty with the snap of his fingers—Prince Jongdae had one request: “bring me a gift I’ve never received before.”





	The Greatest Gift

**Author's Note:**

> happy loveshot comeback day and happy holidays xoxo

For the nobles and foreign suitors attending the coronation of the new Great King—the wealthiest ruler of all, capable of pulling any country out of poverty with the snap of his fingers—Prince Jongdae had one request: “bring me a gift I’ve never received before.”

Prince Jongdae’s grand request spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom, and the cardinal winds carried the news across the highest mountain peaks and the stormiest of seas to others. It sparked a frenzy within the hearts of those capable of dreaming. Marriage to the Great King was beyond the Gods’ blessings.

With only a year until the coronation, the world changed gears to accommodate the opportunity. The new hustle and bustle were seeking the perfect gift for the new king. But that begged the question: what could you give a person who already had it all?

Some dug deep into the earth in search of mineralized stars while others dived into darkness in search of fantastic beasts. Some wove the finest garments out of the rarest materials with elaborate designs while others sought after ingredients tasted only by the Gods.

When the time finally came for the coronation of the new Great King, the Greatest City was overfilled with glorious, mind-boggling treasures and their eager owners. It would take the newly crowned Great King three days of nearly nonstop gifting for him to get through everything.

Many suitors entered the royal chambers one-by-one with their mystical gifts, and one-by-one they were rejected. Panic arose amongst the people.

“Why was my gift refused? It’s the greatest gift of all!” were some of the cries delivered by the cardinal winds.

The Great King Jongdae never gave a clearer answer than “No.” Once he shook his head, waved a dismissive hand, or even sighed, the potential suitors were escorted out. Great King Jongdae didn’t keep their gifts either. He was the wealthiest in the land; he didn’t need to.

With word spreading that the Great King had been rejecting gifts left and right, almost any hope of marrying the man seemed lost. It wasn’t until the last remaining minutes of the third day when the Great King would change his decision.

“I believe this is the last participant, Your Greatness.”

Jongdae suppressed a yawn and nodded for his advisor to open the towering doors for the last time that night. He hoped the suitor wouldn’t bring any exotic animals. The smell from the ‘little accident’ from earlier still faintly lingered in the air.

The doors opened revealing a rather small man. Well, he wasn’t exactly _small_ , but from a distance and next to the large doors, he looked small; the elevation of the throne did not help, either. Jongdae sat up in his seat as the small man first bowed.

After a subtle glance in his advisor’s direction, the small man was nudged along.

“His Greatness is waiting for you. Move along, now.”

The small man bowed to his advisor (for whatever odd reason) and as he took careful steps towards the throne, he grew in size.

Jongdae didn’t spot any gifts growing in size also, so where was his? It was clear soon enough, though, that whatever gift the man possessed was hidden behind his back. Jongdae looked to his advisor who quickly wiped his expression of surprise off his face. Jongdae frowned.

“Good evening, Your Greatness,” the man suddenly spoke. His voice held more volume than Jongdae would have guessed. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?” The man offered him a smile and Jongdae prepared himself to raise his finger. Getting no response, however, the man chuckled softly.

“I agree,” the man said as if he had read Jongdae’s mind. “Well, I won’t waste any more of your time, Your Greatness. My name’s Junmyeon, I’m a small farmer from the outskirts of—”

“I don’t care who you are,” Jongdae interjected, startling the man. “Or where you are from.”

The man quickly lowered his head, but his apology only seemed to tick the Great King off more.

“Hurry up and present your gift. You’ve already wasted enough of my time.”

The man looked up slowly. “Okay.” He brought his arms forward, revealing his gift. The Great King didn’t know how to react.

 _Laughter_.

Laughter came first, spewing out of the Great King unexpectedly and filling the air with a strange intensity. His voice echoed off the walls of the royal chamber and bounced around the room with strength.

The advisor’s eyes were wide. “His Greatness is laughing... His Greatness is actually laughing,” he mumbled.

The man stood clueless on how to proceed.

Was it good laughter? Bad laughter? What was so funny about his gift in the first place? The man looked around awkwardly for some type of help or indication of what exactly was happening, but the guards stood by like statues, silently, and the royal advisor avoided his gaze.

“You brought me flowers?” Jongdae said, sounding winded as he caught his breath. He braced himself against the back of his throne, clenching his eyes and clutching his stomach.

“Yes, Your Greatness,” the man answered cautiously. “Is there something wrong?”

“And are these the same flowers from the royal garden? _My_ royal garden?”

The Great King’s brows rose higher and higher with each question. The man, still not knowing how the Great King interpreted his gift, bowed instead of verbally answering.

“Did I not ask you a question?”

“Y-yes, you did, Your Greatness. I apologize,” he spluttered, snapping his eyes up to the Great King, if only for a second before he cracked and looked away. “The flowers were indeed picked from your royal garden.”

“Why?”

The question hung between them like a veil, one which the Great King seemed eager to slice right open with the saber he kept at this side.

The man mumbled his answer to the floor. “I thought they looked nice?” Once said aloud, he suddenly realized how foolish he must have sounded. His neck felt hot. He was tempted to rub it.

“Could you not be too bothered to go elsewhere for flowers? Were you that lazy?”

The tone of the Great King’s voice frightened the man and to Jongdae, the man’s reaction made him look small again.

“Did I not ask a question, _Junmyeon_?”

Junmyeon met Jongdae’s intense stare and felt the hairs on his neck stand up on end.

“Yes, you did, Your Greatness...”

“Then, _answer_ me. Why would you gift me flowers from my own garden?”

Junmyeon swallowed his fear, if only for thirty seconds, and returned the Great King’s stare with equal intensity. The advisor watched on in awe. Even the statutes in the room had shifted their heads to watch.

“I thought many people would gift you flora far more beautiful and more exotic than I ever could find…” Junmyeon began, almost sounding sad. Regretful. “And I thought you’ve probably received gifts like that your entire life. Gifts that are ‘the rarest’ or ‘most exotic’. I thought you’d be tired of that, Your Greatness.”

Taking a deep breath, Junmyeon walked up the steps to the throne and held out his bouquet of flowers, a simple mix of dark pinks and whites.

“I thought,” Junmyeon continued, settling into a momentum that strengthened his resolve, “that no one’s probably given you a simple gift, one that could mean more than the greatest treasures to man, given the right context.”

Time stopped when Junmyeon asked: “Would you accept my gift, Your Greatness?”

The Great King Jongdae looked at the bouquet and scoffed. As soon as he raised his hand, the guards were moving to escort the man out.

“Wait!” The advisor halted their movements.

With the same finger that had sent hundreds and hundreds of suitors home in shambles, the Great King flicked a petal wistfully.

“Junmyeon,” he spoke in a calm but slightly incredulous tone, pulling the bouquet to his chest, “I accept your gift.”

**Author's Note:**

> :3  
> follow me at the same handle on twitter where i dump most of my ideas lmao xoxo


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